Hodag offense erupts in win over Antigo

The Rhinelander High School boys’ soccer team has struggled to put the ball in the back of the net this season. The team tallied a total of six goals in its first six conference games but that changed in a big way Thursday night.

Matthew King scored twice and the Hodags more than doubled their conference goal total as they routed Antigo 8-0 at Mike Webster Stadium.

Scoreless until the 15th minute, King broke the seal with a goal in traffic off a corner kick and, after that, shots finally started finding the twine with some regularity. The Hodags, who only scored twice against the last-place Robins in their first meeting back on Aug. 31, were able to finish the game early via the eight-goal rule following Michael Schiek’s rebound tally in the 71st minute.

“We mixed it up a little bit. In soccer, that’s big,” coach John Weigel said. “You can’t keep doing the same thing. That’s easy to defend. We were able to mix it up a lot. We had a lot of shots. They didn’t all fall, but the majority of them were on frame. Their keeper had a lot of saves tonight, a lot of good saves.”

Rhinelander spread the wealth around on Thursday. Seven different players scored, including four players who notched their first goal of the season. Will Quinn added three assists in the match and the Hodags outshot the Robins 42-2.

King got things started as he found an open spot in the box as the Robins had trouble clearing a Schiek corner kick. Quinn gathered the loose ball and touched it over the King for the finish. Quinn then put Will Gretzinger on a run a few moments later, leading to a breakaway goal that gave Rhinelander a 2-0 lead in the 18th minute. 

Freshman Asher Rivord collected his first career varsity goal right before halftime, taking a left-footed shot from just inside the right side of the box that bent into the top left corner of the goal.

Hart Hokens, who normally plays central defense for Rhinelander, was moved into the attack in the second half and cashed in on a rebound after Gretzinger was denied on a give-and-go attempt. King got his second in the 49th minute, heading home a Schiek corner kick. 

From there freshman Aidan Lueder scored his first varsity goal, as he got on the end of a through ball by Hokens in the 54th minute. Neil Weigel, also primarily used on defense, was pushed forward and fired one home from the top of the 18 in the 57th minute. 

Schiek ended it in the 71st minute, poking home a rebound after Quinn was stopped on a point-blank chance. 

“It was awesome, great for the kids. You could see the energy and how excited they were for their teammates tonight,” coach Weigel said. “The boys, we tried to get them fired up for this game and I think it worked. It was nice to see the goals too. They were spread out between seven players. It wasn’t like we had just one player doing it. We tried to work on some passing, some give-and-go. We played some good soccer and were able to spread it out, which was awesome.”

Rhinelander keeper Barak Rappley was needed for only one save on Thursday as the Hodags recorded their sixth shutout of the season. 

It all sets up a pivotal week of conference play for the Hodags, who travel to Lakeland tonight before heading to Mosinee on Thursday. Mosinee vaulted into the conference lead, one point ahead of Rhinelander and two clear of the Lakeland, thanks to a 3-2 win over the Thunderbirds on Thursday. 

Rhinelander defeated Lakeland 1-0 last month in Rhinelander and then tied Mosinee 1-1, but lost a penalty kick shootout which currently stands as the difference between the Hodags and the Indians in the conference standings. 

“I’m glad they played tough tonight,” coach Weigel said. “Hopefully we can keep that energy and momentum going. We’ve got two tough games next week. Hopefully we can go out there and get some good results.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at jeremy@rivernewsonline.com.